E. Vance Walters and Kae L. Walters v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

McCREE, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a decision of the Tax Court affirming the Commissioner’s disallowance as business expenses of medical staff fees paid by appellant, an osteopath, to the Epp Memorial Hospital in Cincinnati. The amounts in question— $400 in 1961 and $1000 in 1962 — were found by the Commissioner to be amortizable capital expenditures rather than business expenses.

At the relevant time, Epp Memorial Hospital was the only Cincinnati area hospital which would accept applications for staff membership from holders of the academic degree of Doctor of Osteopathy as well as…